A Burris Laboratory School teacher arrived at work early, at 6:30 a.m. Monday, to find the school dark and without power and called the police.
Ball State University police responded to the call and discovered the electrical room in Burris had been vandalized overnight, causing the school to lose power.
Unable to comment on what damage was done, Gene Burton, director of public safety, said the situation was serious enough that the university called the Delaware County bomb squad and sent students home for the day to be safe. The squad used a bomb-sniffing dog to secure the school, and university police collected evidence.
"Whoever got into the building, got into the electrical room and flipped all of the electrical switches," Glenn Augustine, senior director of University Communications, said. "There is evidence of vandalism. We don't know the extent. The students have been sent home with their parents."
Augustine said he could not comment on any suspects because of the ongoing investigation.
The bomb squad arrived at 8 a.m. and had the building secured by 11:30 a.m.
The FBI was also at the scene until noon, after being called in by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department. University police detectives stayed at Burris until night collecting evidence.
The situation of someone tampering with the electricity was not a typical case of vandalism, Augustine said.
Power was out from about 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Augustine said, and classes would resume Tuesday,
The decision to close school wasn't made until 7:45 a.m. when some students had already been dropped off. A radio announcement went out to inform people of the cancellation, and the students who were already at the school were escorted to Elliot Dining Hall by teachers, Augustine said. Faculty and staff supervised the students until 8:45 a.m. when the last student was picked up.
The Indiana Academy holds classes at Burris, so school was canceled for those students as well. All after-school activities were cancelled, including practices and a boy's soccer game.
Burris has scheduled a make-up day for April 6.
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